If I had read Out of the Dust when I was younger, I think my reaction to it would have been a lot different. Reading this book was hard for me, I didn't really find it interesting, and I thought it would never end. I have to say, usually I love reading books that have a historical aspect to them, so I was surprised when I opened this book and found it very boring. After reading this book and thinking about what I was going to write about in my LENS assignment, I realized that although I didn't love this book overall, there were a lot of passages that stuck with me. I think this is really important from a teaching perspective because not every student is going to love the book you assign, but you have to teach them that even though they might not love a book, they can always take something away from it.
I think Out of the Dust would be a great book for kids in middle school to read. The overall message really isn't focused on the Great Depression, but more on Billie Jo. She had a rough childhood, everything was always covered in dust, her mother dies, and along with her goes Billie Jo's spirit. But she never gives up. Even though she has terrible feelings of guilt about what happened to her mother, and her hands ache constantly, she pushes through that pain and brings herself back. It's important for children to understand what people went through to help them realize that whatever they're going through, they can overcome it. If I taught this book, I would have the students write a short paper comparing and contrasting their lives to Billie Jo's lives. I think looking at it that way, its easier to get something from the book, and understand all of the emotions she was feeling, and that she really isn't that much different from them.
Thinking back on this book, I realized that even though I didn't grow up during the Great Depression, I had many things in common with Billie Jo. Ironically when my mom was pregnant with me, all my dad wanted was a boy( which is why my name is Jordan). Luckily he got two lovely daughters instead. Growing up I had a pretty normal childhood, but I struggled through my middle school years more than other kids. I hated school, and all I could ever think about was getting away. Once I got to high school, I saw my life in a whole other light and I realized that my struggles made me who I am today. Going through struggle and knowing pain, is where I felt like I could empathize the most with Billie Jo. As humans we need to feel pain, and hurt, and sorrow, so that we can appreciate love, and happiness, and joy that much more. My favorite passage in this book was when she said "And I know that all this time I was trying to get out of the dust, the fact is, what I am, I am because of the dust. And that is good enough. Even for me.". (222) I liked this the most because I think most people can relate to that. Children today, go through a lot in their life, and I think that they should know that everyone goes through different things and some of them are hard, but its what makes us stronger.
Out of the Dust - Reader Response
If I had read Out of the Dust when I was younger, I think my reaction to it would have been a lot different. Reading this book was hard for me, I didn't really find it interesting, and I thought it would never end. I have to say, usually I love reading books that have a historical aspect to them, so I was surprised when I opened this book and found it very boring. After reading this book and thinking about what I was going to write about in my LENS assignment, I realized that although I didn't love this book overall, there were a lot of passages that stuck with me. I think this is really important from a teaching perspective because not every student is going to love the book you assign, but you have to teach them that even though they might not love a book, they can always take something away from it.
I think Out of the Dust would be a great book for kids in middle school to read. The overall message really isn't focused on the Great Depression, but more on Billie Jo. She had a rough childhood, everything was always covered in dust, her mother dies, and along with her goes Billie Jo's spirit. But she never gives up. Even though she has terrible feelings of guilt about what happened to her mother, and her hands ache constantly, she pushes through that pain and brings herself back. It's important for children to understand what people went through to help them realize that whatever they're going through, they can overcome it. If I taught this book, I would have the students write a short paper comparing and contrasting their lives to Billie Jo's lives. I think looking at it that way, its easier to get something from the book, and understand all of the emotions she was feeling, and that she really isn't that much different from them.
Thinking back on this book, I realized that even though I didn't grow up during the Great Depression, I had many things in common with Billie Jo. Ironically when my mom was pregnant with me, all my dad wanted was a boy( which is why my name is Jordan). Luckily he got two lovely daughters instead. Growing up I had a pretty normal childhood, but I struggled through my middle school years more than other kids. I hated school, and all I could ever think about was getting away. Once I got to high school, I saw my life in a whole other light and I realized that my struggles made me who I am today. Going through struggle and knowing pain, is where I felt like I could empathize the most with Billie Jo. As humans we need to feel pain, and hurt, and sorrow, so that we can appreciate love, and happiness, and joy that much more. My favorite passage in this book was when she said "And I know that all this time I was trying to get out of the dust, the fact is, what I am, I am because of the dust. And that is good enough. Even for me.". (222) I liked this the most because I think most people can relate to that. Children today, go through a lot in their life, and I think that they should know that everyone goes through different things and some of them are hard, but its what makes us stronger.